RYAN LINDSAY saved his best until last in his maiden Formula Vee campaign, setting himself up in fine style for a championship charge in 2007.

The Eastern Green ace was the architect of a superb showing in the penultimate meeting at Silverstone - as with many of the circuits on the Vee calendar, new territory for Ryan.

Setting the ninth-quickest time in qualifying fired a signal of his intent, but it was his scintillating performance in the final that really caught the eye.

"I had a new car for the race with a whole new suspension package and upgraded engine on a par with the top guys," he explained.

"Qualifying was wet and my front brakes weren't working properly - whenever I went into a corner they locked up and it was a struggle to slow the car down. I lost a lot of time due to that.

"I got up to sixth at the start of the race, then as I was going for fifth one of the guys behind me tapped my back wheel and put me into a spin.

"That dropped me down to 28th, but I fought my way back up to 13th at the end.

"The car was good, and I managed to overtake 19 cars in eight laps.

"With the up-rated engine when I got up behind people on the straight I could pass them, whereas before that's where I was really losing out. It's just quicker everywhere."

Overtaking as many as four cars a lap showed Ryan's pace and commitment and a prelude to the last meeting of the year at Oulton Park in September, where the 18-year-old stunned the Formula Vee fraternity by storming to pole position, a massive seven tenths of a second clear of his nearest rival.

"I had never driven the track before," he admitted, "but we tested on the Friday and the car I was racing was a development car with different suspension settings that made it work a lot better than it had done at Silverstone.

"In practice we were the quickest out there by quite a bit, then on Saturday went out there and stuck it on pole. I didn't believe it at first.

"I knew the lap was quick, but it was great to get out of the car and see my name at the top of the timing screens."

The race saw Ryan take the chequered flag in fourth, easily his highest finish of the year and one that augurs well for 2007.

Not that the young star was entirely satisfied though. "I was disappointed with fourth," he said.

"We just got the set-up wrong on the car for the final. The air temperature had gone up since qualifying which made it a lot warmer, but we hadn't changed the tyre pressures accord-ingly. I was 1.4 seconds a lap slower than I had been in qualifying."

The fact he finished less than two seconds shy of victory even with this disadvantage leaves little doubt as to his potential, but Ryan is not one for regrets. And now his focus is now very much on the future.

"It was frustrating, but at the same time it was good to be driving at the front with all the quick guys," he added.

"I had a good battle with the champion, Sam Oliveira, and there was a group of five of us who broke away from the pack with the lead changing every lap.

"Looking back it was my best result of the year, so it was good in that sense and nice to finish on a high."

"The season went well overall," he said, "though of course it could have been better had I not had the two crashes at Mallory Park and Brands Hatch and he engine blowup at Donington.

"I didn't have the quickest car out there either, so to finish 12th out of 71 drivers in my first year I think was pretty good.

"Single-seaters are very different to karts, especially in terms of the weight and brake transfer. I learned a lot about how to control the car throughout the year, and that gives me a lot of experience regarding how I want it to be set up.

"I know what suits me now, whereas at the start of the year I would just get in and drive.

"Next year I should be racing in Formula Vee again, depending on getting the funds together.

"All things going well, we should have a deal in place to get the quickest car, and if I can go like I did at Oulton hopefully I should be able to challenge for the championship."

For more information see www.race-ryan.info or if you are interested in sponsoring him call 024 7646 5525.